Guardianships in 2024: The Basics and Beyond

Presenters

Hon. Mary K. Costello, P.J.Ch.

NJ Superior Court

Hon. M. Susan Sheppard, P.J.Ch.

Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic/Cape May Counties

Lori M. McNeely, Esq.

McNeely McGuigan & Esmi, LLC, Moorestown

is a Partner in McNeely McGuigan & Esmi, LLC in Moorestown, New Jersey, where she concentrates her practice in estate planning and administration, probate, guardianships, Will contests and related litigation, residential real estate and small business formation. Ms. McNeely frequently receives appointments from the Courts and private clients to serve as trustee, administrator of estates, guardian for incapacitated persons, and counsel for alleged incapacitated persons. She is also on the roster of certified foreclosure mediators with the Administrative Office of Courts in New Jersey and provided pro bono real estate representation to residents impacted by the Mount Holly Gardens litigation.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court, Ms. McNeely has been a member of the New Jersey State, Mercer County and Burlington County Bar Associations, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and the Guardianship
Association of New Jersey. She served as Co-Chair of the Real Property and Probate Committee of the Burlington County Bar Association for six years. She has been a lecturer for CLE seminars sponsored by the Mercer and Burlington County Bar associations and lectured at the Guardianship Association of New Jersey’s Annual Conference in 2011.

Ms. McNeely received her B.S. from Duke University and her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden, where she won the 1995 Hunter Moot Court Competition and represented Rutgers in the National Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C. She was also the recipient of the Excellence in Litigation, Women’s Law Caucus and Hunter Moot Court Awards.
(9/23)

Richard I. Miller, Esq., CELA

Mandelbaum Barrett, PC, Roseland

Certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, is a Shareholder in Mandelbaum Barrett P.C. in the firm’s Roseland, New Jersey, office. Chair of the firm’s Elder Law Practice and Co-Chair of its Special Needs Practice, he concentrates his practice in elder law, guardianships, probate litigation, planning for individuals with special needs, estate planning and estate administration. Mr. Miller provides fiduciary services and serves as executor and administrator in complex estate matters, as guardian for disabled individuals and as Trustee for Supplemental Needs Trusts. He is also a court-approved mediator for probate litigation matters.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York and Colorado, Mr. Miller is Chair of the Passaic County Bar Association Elder Law Section and a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Elder Law and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Sections. He is a past President and Trustee of the Passaic County Bar Association, a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and has served on the District XI Ethics Committee.

Mr. Miller is a frequent lecturer on elder law, government benefit planning and guardianships for professional, community and financial groups. He is the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Chancery/Probate Practitioner of the Year award bestowed by the Passaic County Bar Association (PCBA) and the 2011 Professional Lawyer of the Year award from the PCBA and the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law.

Mr. Miller received his B.A., with honors, from Rutgers College and his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.
(9/23)

Kristi Jasberg Robinson, Esq.

Chief, Civil Practice Liaison, Administrative Office of the Courts

serves as Chief, Civil Practice Liaison, Civil Practice Division of the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts in Trenton, New Jersey. Her responsibilities include overseeing the New Jersey Judiciary Guardianship Monitoring Program and serving as AOC staff to several statewide Judiciary conferences and committees devoted to probate, chancery and civil litigation issues. Prior to joining the AOC in August 2011, she worked as an attorney in private practice and in her most recent role as a staff attorney at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, managed large-scale electronic discovery review and production in mass torts and product liability matters.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Ms. Robinson has been a member of the National and Mid-Atlantic Associations for Court Management. She has served as a panelist for continuing legal education courses on guardianship and other topics, and was a workgroup member and contributor to the National Association for Court Management’s 2013-2014 Adult Guardianship Guide.

Ms. Robinson received her undergraduate degree from Hofstra University and her J.D. from Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board.
(9/23)

Kevin M. Wolfe, Esq.

Former Assistant Director, Civil Practice Division
Administrative Office of the Courts

returned to the private practice of law in January 2018. Prior to returning to private practice, he was the Assistant Director for Civil Practice in the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts. Since October 2019, he has been retained by Mercer County to provide professional advisory services to the Mercer County Surrogate’s Court.
Mr. Wolfe is admitted to practice in New Jersey. He has written and lectured on legal topics relating primarily to estate administration and guardianship. His experience in the field of probate law includes: Mercer County Deputy Surrogate from 1986 to 1993; Adjunct Associate Professor, Mercer County Community College for Wills & Estates from 1986 to 1993; Deputy Attorney General, Division of Law handing probate, escheat, unclaimed property, and transfer inheritance tax matters from 1993 to 2000; Chief, AOC Civil Practice Division and staff to the Conference of General Equity Judges, Committee of Probate Part Judges, and the Judiciary Surrogates Liaison Committee from 2000 to 2011; AOC Civil Practice Division Assistant Director from 2011 to 2017 whose staff was responsible for probate and guardianship and implementation of the Guardianship Monitoring Program. He is the primary author of probate, guardianship, and accounting training manuals presented at 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 Judicial Colleges.
Mr. Wolfe received B.S. from Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology) and his J.D. from Rutgers Law School Camden.
(9/23)